Diet and Exercise

When I say diet I don't mean any of the restrictive things you may or may not be thinking of.  I'm talking about in general what foods I eat.

As far as diet goes,  I am trying to eat more vegetables and fruits.  It's so hard but I know I can do it.  I'm realizing that I have to plan for them in all meals (and not just at dinner time).  I am still eating 5 small portions of meals/day several times per week.  I like this better because I'm not starving in between meals.  I need to cut down on my sweets also.  Tonight I had a waffle with syrup, nutella and whipped cream AGAIN (that's 2 nights in a row).  I have been taking Omega 3 fatty acid tablets as recommended by Monique from Tipa Tipa a while back and it's tamed my sweet tooth a little but not enough.  I need a miracle. LOL

As I mentioned in my last post, I am continuing my P90X workouts.  I'm on week 7.  The pace of P90x is a lot slower and some days (well, a lot of days) I miss Insanity.  But I realize that Insanity is not a good maintenance workout (at least not for me and my already bad knees).  Also, in preparation for future pregnancy I don't need to be doing all that vigorous workout.  P90x is a little more toned down so I think it should be ok.  I'm also trying to fit in jogging a few times per week too.  I think that should be enough.

Here is a pic of me after Insanity.  I will take one after P9oX (although I'm not as compliant with it as I was with Insanity) too with plans to post it.

I meant to post this a long time ago after I finished Insanity but I'm like 2 months behind.

BTW--thanks for all your sweet comments and birthday wishes from last post :)

Mrs. K

I'm back and hopefully for good w/ lots of pix to overcompensate

Hey there! Sorry I've been gone for so long.  Due to a combination of laziness and some I'm busy with life-ness I've been neglecting my blog.  I have been reading the blogs that I follow regularly and sometimes I would leave a comment or two.  Other times I'll start writing a comment then realize that I'm not logged in then delete it instead of logging in.

You may remember that we are moving in a few months--the anticipated time is late June.  We've been house hunting like mad (from 100s of miles away) and as you can imagine it's been a little challenging.  I do have to thank God for Trulia, Craigslist and the internet in general because it could be worse.  I don't know how people did long distance house shopping pre-internet when they worked a full time job.  I also really really appreciate a couple we know (living in our future home city) for visiting the houses and even videotaping them so we can get an idea of what they are like.  Isn't that awesome?

Anyway, we are excited about the move for many reasons but also there's a little sadness because I've developed some meaningful relationships here over the past 3 years.  At least we are moving to a place with lots of activities where people wouldn't mind visiting (well, that's what our friends and family say). lol

So what's happened over the past few weeks since I've been gone....hmmmm....

I went to a wedding.  It was my first IR wedding since ours.  It was so beautiful and it was great to see the families come together.  I love weddings in general.  You know how some old folks like to visit funerals, well I like to visit weddings.  It doesn't matter who's wedding it is, I always have a good time.  The ceremonies are usually my favorite.  Every time I've attended a wedding since we've been married I get warm and fuzzy inside thinking about the similar vows my husband and I took a few years ago.

Beautiful couple at their wedding

This is the only pic of myself in my wedding outfit (which you can't see)

I visited with an old friend.  She attends school in Wisconsin and she was visiting with another friend in Birmingham, AL.  I drove up to meet with them a few weekends ago and we had a great time.  I don't have too many girlfriends--well friends in general (by choice--lol) but it was great being in the company of like minded God-fearing women.  Actually we are pretty different but it makes our conversations that much more interesting.

In Birmingham, AL with friends at an urban park

More pix of the park--it's self sufficient apparently (which I think is pretty neat).  Very environmentally conscious park in the middle of a rough part of town.  It's a great way to get people to go out and enjoy the community.

More female bonding/supporting. Part of the UN is represented here from l to r: Jamaica, Haiti, Ghana

I've realized that I'm horrible with keeping in touch with people.  Well, I knew this from the get-go but it's pretty bad.  I have to do better.  Thank God that the people who matters the most realize that this is one of my character flaws and are willing to work with me. Right friends and fam? ::Wink, wink::  Lol.

I'm still working out regularly but not as much as I was when I was doing Insanity.  I'm doing P90X but only about 4 times per week on average.  I've also started back running too.  I was proud to get out there and run 3 miles on day 1 (this is after stopping in late fall--I know it's been a while but I hate cold weather).  Hubby is still a rock star with his whole diet and exercise routine.  I'm so proud of him!

I just wanted to show off hubby's hard work and his new beard.  He's never sported a beard before but I'm  surprisingly digging it.  BTW--the matching clothing is totally coincidental. 

The dogs are doing well...still nuts but I love them.  Eliza is so sweet to humans but she's a pain in the booty to her big brother, Gideon.  Gideon's still a punk and allow Eliza to take advantage of him.  We took them to the park yesterday and it was so much fun playing hide-and-seek with them. 

I have no words to describe these 2 lunatics right now.

I think that's about it for now.  I'll try to write more soon.  Thanks for hanging in there.  Oh yeah, today is my 29th birthday.  Hubby is working at the hospital tonight but he made me a yummy birthday breakfast this morning.  There was some left over Belgian waffles which I ate with syrup, nutella and whipped cream for dessert (of course it also satisfied my always raging sweet tooth). Ha!

Talk to you soon :)

Mrs. K

Updates

Good news.  Hubby is back so I don't have to live through another tornado watch by myself (at least not for a while).  If you don't know what I'm talking about check out my last post.  It's so great to have him back.  

He's been on this whole health kick which is highly unusual for him but I love it.  He is more health conscious now than he's ever been.  He is continuing to workout regularly and get this...he's even watching what he eats.  You have no clue how amazing that is.  He's always been the "I can eat whatever I want just as long as I workout" kind of guy but now that we are getting older he's had a change of mind.  Or he could have changed his mind because we both have got a little more junk in the trunk since we've first started dating (over 10 years ago).  

Anyway, his whole healthy mission is working well for both of us.  No more let's go eat pizza here or pasta there several times per month week.  I'm glad that we are getting this healthy lifestyle under control before we have kids.  I figure if he have a routine now it would be a little easier in the future when we have several rugrats running around.  That may be just my ignorance talking but as they say "ignorance is bliss" or it may just be "wishful thinking" on my part.  What can I say, I'm an optimist.

On another note, we got a new computer in the K-household so that's one less excuse I have to make about not blogging more frequently.  Hubby had a computer but it was giving us some trouble so we have been sharing a computer for the past few months.  Finally, we just got another MacBook Pro and he is thrilled about it.  So am I.  We are definitely an Apple family.  I look forward to blogging a bit more.

Mrs. K

Frightening Night

Last night was a bit scary.  My honey wasn't home and we had a thunderstorm in my area.  I usually sleep well at night but last night I was awoken from my sleep (which I love oh so much) by the bright flashing lights of lightening and the loud clapping of thunder.  It took me a while to go back to sleep.  As soon as I was dozing off I was again alarmed by the loud sounds of tornado sirens.  Those things are freaking scary.  Here I am half asleep and this loud siren goes off.  Totally freaked out and alone I half-panicked.  I did not know what the heck to do.  I've never lived in a place that had these loud sirens going off in the middle of the night before.  At first I didn't know what the heck the sound was.

I called my honey within seconds (after wiping the sleep out of my eyes that is) but got no answer.  You see, he has been at a ski resort in Utah for the past few days.  He's at a conference there and he has no cell phone signal in this remote area.  Yeah, pretty crappy for me at 1:52am.  

I had all these crazy scenarios in my head about what I should do.  I looked out the window and saw that I was not the only person who couldn't sleep because of this annoying sound.  I still wasn't sure what was going on.  We don't have TV and there was no radio upstairs for me to try to figure out what had happened.  I finally got some sense and checked the weather channel app on my phone and figured out that we were on a tornado watch.  I breathed a sigh of relief because I finally knew what that crazy sound was.  I mean, for all I knew it could've been an alien invasion (lol).  Not long after feeling better I then started thinking about what I needed to do.  

I knew if my husband was home I wouldn't need to think about this because he would just take care of everything.  But he wasn't home and he couldn't be reached.  Well he could but at the time, I didn't think to call his room.  I thought about the dogs then I was reminded by Gideon's (our great dane) loud howling (trying to mimic the siren) that they were safe inside too.  I was glad that the doggies were in the house because it would have been very challenging for me to go downstairs, much less go outside to bring them in.  I know that's evil but I was scared.  Ha! 

I wondered about what precautions I needed to take since I hadn't been in a situation like this before.  I googled "what to do in a tornado watch" and saw a few recommendations.  They recommended going to the lowest level in the house but there was no way I was leaving my "safe at the time" bedroom.  Based on other recs I spent the rest of the night sleeping on the floor, away from the window (between my bed and the wall).   My goal was to get back on the bed eventually but I woke up this am by the sound of my alarm telling me it's time to start my day.

It was an interesting experience.  I know I'm a punk but I've seen too many crazy tornado movies/stories in the past to not take certain precautions. LOL

Picture Credit

Mrs. K

Product Review/Giveaway?

I was contacted by a company who wanted me to work with them doing reviews/giveaways on this blog.  I want to know what you guys think about this.  I mean the company has some great products (just from scanning their sites) but I just don't know.  When I first started blogging I was not interested in doing reviews, advertising, etc and I'm still not sure how I feel about it.   I've seen some positive and negative things said on some blogs I've read in the past.  

Even though I would still blog even if I had no followers because it's something I've grown to enjoy (writing down my thoughts and feelings), I do appreciate the people who take the time to read and especially make comments.  So, it would be nice to be able give something away to my followers but I fear becoming too impersonal.  You know what I mean?   I know, I over-think things.  On the other hand it sounds like it could be fun also for me. But of course being the person I am, I don't like committing to something if I won't be able to do a darn good job at it.  So, I don't know.   Anyway, I'm hoping you guys can help me out by giving me some ideas and answering some of my queries.

What do you honestly think about reviews/giveaways?

Do you already do this on your blog and if not would you?

If I do decide to do it, do yoiu know if it's a binding contract (with deadlines, etc)?

How much commitment is necessary to do something like that?

Would I have to get one of those random number generator thingies to select a winner?

What do you think about blogs that host product reviews? (I like them because I get a chance to win some free stuff...lol)

Would I need to have the company logo displayed all the time?

Please feel free to give me any other input.  You can comment here or email me. Thanks.

Mrs. K

Pre-pregnancy prep

I don't know if you remember a few months ago me talking about needing to go see an ob gyn.  You can refer back to this post.  I hadn't gone in 2-3 years (I know that's awful) and wanted to go for routine follow but also for preconception check up.  I was contemplating about which ob gyn to see.  Well, I finally saw one recently but what it came down to was cost.  I opted to stay within the University Hospital system that I work in (as far as the ob gyn that I see) instead of seeing my friend or another physician at her "posh" practice.  Call me cheap but I don't regret it.  100% of the cost was taken care of--and I like that.

Anyway, I hate going to ob gyn visits almost as much as I hate going to the dentist but I figured it was a necessary evil.  Especially if I wanted to make sure I was on the right track (just in case I was to get pregnant).  And, I must say that my experience wasn't so bad after all.  I had to get blood drawn to check a varicella titer since I've never had the chicken pox.  This was probably one of the worse parts.  I hate sharp objects piercing my skin...creeps me out (even if it's a teeny tiny butterfly needle).

Per my ob gyn I don't need to make any changes as of right now...except to decrease the intensity of my exercise routine if I do become pregnant.  Also...

-I need to eat more fruits and veggies (but she didn't say that). 

-I've been on prenatal vitamins for over 6 months and the ones I'm taking are good during pregnancy too. (this is great since they are the cheap Walmart brand)

-I take Omega 3, 6, 9 (one pill that my husband insists I take) which is also ok in pregnancy.  

-I'm on a few allergy meds which are safe during pregnancy.  I'm not convinced so I will continue to be non compliant with them. (unless my eyes are swollen shut, I start wheezing or I'm so congested that I feel my head will explode).

-I need to cut back on the sweets.  This has been out of control since my vacation last week.  I've got this ridiculously raging sweet tooth that's intermittent.

Oh yeah, I had to be weighed at the ob gyn's office and I was not happy with the number.  This further reinforces my not wanting to weigh myself.  Remember I hadn't weighed myself in months prior to this.  Although I know I'm not obese or even overweight I miss seeing 120-something pounds on the scale.  My husband tells me all the time that weight doesn't matter but what does matter is "overall health and how you look naked in the mirror." He is so funny but I think he's right.  I do feel better and I've been more consistent with my workouts and eating better and that is what matters.  Besides I'm more muscular now than I was then or at least that's what I tell myself. LOL.  I'm really trying to get over this complex before I have kids, especially daughters.

By the way, you may remember me saying that we are not TTC  (trying to conceive) but we would be fine if we got pregnant.  I'm not sure what they call where hubby and I are at but I'm calling it NPC (not preventing conception).  What do you think?

I will probably be posting more pregnancy prep related posts in the future since I'm heading in that direction (in life) right now.

Mrs. K

North Carolina vacation recap

A brief update on life since I've been missing for over a week.  Lots of pix included.

Vacation went well in NC.  On the way we got to hang out with some good friends.  We did look at some homes but it's too early to seal the deal on anything.  We are planning on renting for several reasons: 1) we bought the house that we are living in now but can't sell it because we will lose tons of money so we will rent it.  We don't want to have to be juggling two mortgages 2) We will be in NC for at least 2 years.  We are not sure if we will settle there once we are done with our training.  We don't want to purchase a home then move again in a few years.  3) If we do decide to stay in NC, we'd like to stake out neighborhoods before we jump into a purchase.

Hun checking out one of the houses we liked in NC

The most fun yet relaxing were the last few days that hubby and I spent with my cousin and her fiance'.  They are really cool down to earth people and we had such a good time.  At the cabin we had no cell phone signal so we were cut off from civilization for a few days.  I didn't mind though.  The cabin was in the mountains and it was so peaceful.  I would have preferred to be there in the fall for the foliage but it was beautiful regardless.

One of the trails we went on, the trail map described a beautiful waterfall (see above).  It was beautiful but a lot smaller than expected.

Future Mr. and Mrs. S

Mr and Mrs. K

Goofy cousins pretending to be serious for the camera

Guys will be guys (notice the distance btw them)

My future cousin-in-law.  He is such a sweet guy and compliments my cousin so well.

Mrs. K